United Kingdom: Sex Disease Clinics "Cannot Cope"

A survey of 69 doctors from sexual health clinics across England found that two-thirds could not cope with patient demand and had to turn patients away in the previous year. The survey also found that a government allocation of £300 million (US$560 million) had helped improve services, but it was not reaching the frontline in some areas. The survey was commissioned by the sexual health charities Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), the British HIV Association, and Providers of AIDS Care and Treatment.

Among the survey findings:

• 34 percent of respondents reported "often" turning patients away without being able to offer them any help, and 30 percent reported they "occasionally" had to do so.

• More than half those surveyed said their capacity to provide services had declined during the past year. "We have a single center covering 500,000 people -- currently turning away 600 patients a week," said one respondent.
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• One in five patients waited a month for an STD test.

• More than one-third of patients waited more than two weeks for an HIV test.

Most patients would have been unlikely to access services elsewhere, increasing the length of time they experienced STD symptoms and their risk of transmitting the infection to others, said the charities.

Of 47 primary care trusts (PCT) surveyed, about half said they had not increased funding for sexual health over the last year. Where government funding had reached clinics, services had improved. "But too often, PCT managers are failing to take sexual health seriously," said Lisa Power, THT's policy head.

A Department of Health spokesperson noted that the survey included only 15 percent of PCTs and said the government's goal is for all patients seeking care to be seen within 48 hours.

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